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Van der Valk Shipyard
Van der Valk Shipyard is one of the few Dutch yachtbuilders in the 18 to 45-metre class that builds high-quality aluminium hulls in-house and takes care of the complete outfitting and finishing. As a family business with a history that spans several generations, Van der Valk builds yachts that stand the test of time and perform as well as they look. In early 2019, Van der Valk Shipyard launched the BeachClub series, which received the prestigious World Yachts Trophy for “Most Innovative Yacht” in the 45ft to 64ft category at the Cannes Yachting Festival in September of that year.
For the detachable sunscreens of the yard’s latest model, the BeachClub 660 Flybridge, Carbonwebshop & Refitech produced a series of carbon awning poles with custom-made inserts. The use of high-performance carbon tubes not only provides ease of use combined with a luxurious look. They are also impact and corrosion resistant, two important features for use on a seagoing yacht.
The BeachClub 660 Flybridge features a number of deck sockets with an M12 thread. The sockets make it easy to set up the sun screens quickly and effortlessly when the yacht is moored or at anchor, and they can be released and stowed quickly and easily when it leaves. Storage space on yachts is somewhat limited. The longest awning poles can therefore be unscrewed in two sections to take up less space.
We came across Refitech a few years ago when we needed a carbon plate for one of our yacht designs and found those on Carbonwebshop, Refitech’s web shop for standard carbon components. In December 2021 we contacted them again to help us build an awning for the sundeck of our latest yacht, the BeachClub 660 Flybridge. We already had some experience with carbon components and wanted to use it for this project because of its strength and low weight. However, we were under a lot of time pressure, as the yacht was to be showcased at the 2022 Dubai Boat Show that took place in March. Luckily Refitech lived up to our expectations in every aspect. Communication was quick and easy, as we are based on the same industrial estate. And they came up with a design that fits perfectly into the luxurious design of this beautiful yacht, and in time for the boat to be shown at the Dubai show. We’ll definitely will work with them again in the future.
For this project, Refitech used ‘high performance’ round tubes with an outer diameter of 60 mm and a wall thickness of 2 mm. These tubes are always directly available from stock up to a length of 2000 mm. They are laminated from high-quality prepreg carbon fiber and epoxy resin, have an attractive ‘carbon look’ exterior and are finished with a weather resistant high gloss or satin PU coating. The fibers are oriented in two directions, providing optimum strength and rigidity at a low weight. The tolerance of the outer diameter is +/- 0.2 mm.
Why did we use the “High Performance” carbon fibre tube for this specific project?
– A relatively low specific weight
– High Specific strength (higher strength at less weight) and load-bearing capacity
– Very good fatigue properties
– Long lifespan
– Low maintenance costs (especially in the long run)
– High chemical resistance against acids and chemicals
– Weather and water resistance (the material hardly corrodes and absorbs little moisture)
– Possibility of integration of inserts
– Good impact properties
– The carbon twill look
For more technical specifications you can download our datasheet here.
The carbon fiber tubes are fitted with a combination of 3 precisely customized inserts. These are CNC-milled from stainless steel and POM (Polyoxymethylene), a thermoplastic ideally suited for parts requiring high strength, low friction and excellent dimensional stability.
Carbonwebshop & Refitech is able to provide its customers with custom-made or standard inserts. We use Araldite 2k epoxy glue, to fit the insert parts with the carbon components. This glue is gap filling, chemically resistant, dynamically loadable and has high strength. You can buy this glue in our web shop here.
